The present invention relates to a support for an adjustable housing, in particular for the housing of a radar sensor which is mounted on the exterior of a motor vehicle.
As a rule, such a radar sensor is screwed to the exterior of a vehicle with a support. This radar sensor may be for example a component of a proximity warning system in which information about the proximity and/or the relative speed of the vehicle relative to other vehicles and to the road conditions is processed continuously. It is necessary in that case to align the radar sensor very precisely with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, so horizontal and vertical adjustment of the sensor is necessary after installation in the vehicle because of the vehicle tolerances in the area of the mounting location which are to some extent considerable.
It is described for example in German Patent Application No. 199 24 055 that the radar sensor is adjusted from above, below, or laterally after installation by manually turning two adjusting screws with the help of a redirecting mechanism. The difficulty is to find an installation space for the radar sensor which offers adequate room and satisfies the high frequency requirements and also allows simple, rapid, and thus inexpensive adjustment of the radar sensor at the end of the manufacturing process.
Often the accessibility of the adjusting screws is difficult because of the very cramped space situation in the vehicles, or for reasons of design, so that the adjusting can only be done by using a platform lift or similar aids. Recesses or openings in the area of the bumper, which could facilitate access, cannot be implemented in most cases for design reasons. Special tools, such as bevel gears, are also complex and expensive.
A means of motorized adjustment of the adjusting screws produced by an appropriate electronic control system is described in German Patent Application No. 100 255 019, which has not been published previously.
A support for an adjustable housing, in which the position of a housing, for example for a radar sensor, is capable of modification using at least one adjusting screw, is provided. The at least one adjusting screw is able to be rotated using a regulatable adjusting drive, and for adjustment of the housing there is an electronic control system present which conveys adjustment signals to the particular adjusting drive.
Also present in an advantageous way is a plug-in connection for a bus connection of the control unit electronics for communication with a higher-level bus system, preferably a CAN bus; the electronic control system, the at least one adjusting drive, and the plug-in connection are accommodated in a compact support housing, and only the attachment points of the adjusting screws for the adjustable sensor housing protrude from the support housing.
According to an advantageous embodiment, the at least one adjusting screw is connected in each case via a rotating spindle to the adjusting drive for linear adjustment of the attachment points, the particular adjusting drive being a stepper motor or a DC motor.
In a particularly advantageous way, the support housing is constructed from two arms at right angles to each other, there being one attachment point for the sensor housing at the end of each arm which may be changed in a straight line by an adjusting motor, and a third unchangeable attachment point at the intersection of the two arms.
According to the present invention it is possible, with a particularly compact design of the support, to perform an automatic adjustment in relatively little time, while the favorable design of the support housing and the absence of the need for access to the adjusting screws allow great flexibility in choosing the installation position.